“Unity” That Divides This week's edition of Contentious Questions (Because some questions just are that way)
Image Credit(s): Unsplash.com/Jon Eric Marababol.
It’s Official. We Need Prayer Support. It's gone full-on ridiculous now.
We need prayer. I cannot believe the headwinds and obstacles we’ve been facing. I’m leading a team to develop the Spiritual Readiness Project, a high-level, long-term plan to equip pastors and lay people for the new challenges of the day. If that website loads for you, you’ll see more of what the project is and why it matters. If it doesn’t, see below. You’ve just gotten a taste of why we need prayer. Right Purpose, Right Team… We’re focused on…
Hell Under Fire (Facebook Live)
The topic of hell is very much under fire. I wrote about it at The Stream a couple days ago, and it was the topic of this week’s Facebook Live edition of “Contentious Questions (Because some questions just are that way).” Image Credit(s): Austin Neill, Unsplash.
Everybody Wants a Piece of Jesus It Isn't Gonna Work
Everyone wants a piece of Jesus. Major religions want to claim him for their own. And political and social activists try to make him stand for their causes, too. He will have none of it. So how then can we avoid that mistake in our own lives? How can we discern it in others? That’s my topic for this week’s edition of Contentious Questions (Because some questions just are that way). Image Credit(s): Austin Neill, Unsplash.
Apologetics in Your Teaching: Four Ways You Can Aim Your People Higher The Most Frequently Emphasized Theme in the New Testament Is ... ?
I’ve been writing on how to bring apologetics into your teaching without scaring people away. (The series got interrupted by a string of unexpected events here. All is well, just a lot busier than I’d planned on.) There’s a fine line between challenging people and scaring them. Of course I use the word “scare” advisedly. I’m talking about what happens when people get pushed beyond their comfort limits — which could happen in all kinds of ways in church. Talk…
Theme Correction
Another theme change here. I liked the look of the previous one, but there were four problems: Most important: The sidebar was far too prominent on smaller screen. Subheading sizes were wrong in mobile view. Comment numbering was off: my own comments weren’t numbered. With this fix, all comment number references should be correct again except on the very most recent posts. That’s an unfortunate problem that I can’t correct. Many style/formatting tags failed to work in comments. Thanks for…
Christians, We Know the Truth (Facebook Live)
We know the truth. We know the truth. We know the truth. We know the truth. And we know the truth. Fighting words? See my recent Stream articles on this, and watch my explanation here. Image Credit(s): Austin Neill, Unsplash.
Apologetics in the Church: The Spiritual Readiness Project Moves Forward
What will it take to bring apologetics into the local church? I must have heard that question asked hundreds of times over the past ten years. Of course, I run in circles where people are likely to wonder. They know: Christianity is under unprecedented pressure. Most young people raised in solid Christian churches walk away from the faith when they leave home — which means most young people raised in reasonably solid Christian families walk away — and that one…
Why Hebrews 11:1 Doesn’t Mean Faith Is Without Evidence
Edited and republished from a post on November 15, 2013. Jerry Coyne’s recent Slate article on science and faith gives another chance to clarify the contentious meaning of “faith.” In that article he presents three religious and one putative scientific usage of the word, then comments, The three religious claims (Christian, Jewish, and Muslim, respectively) represent faith as defined by philosopher Walter Kaufmann: “intense, usually confident, belief that is not based on evidence sufficient to command assent from every reasonable…
